Asked about the interest, Mourino told Onda Cero radio: "We are willing to negotiate, besides the fact they are two big clubs, two friendly clubs. But in this specific case, the fans will not forgive us and we will not allow him to go for less than €40m, his release clause."

Celta sold Aspas to Liverpool for £7m in the summer of 2013 but he scored just two goals for the Anfield club in 16 appearances before returning to Spain with Sevilla, who he joined on a season-long loan for 2014-15 with an obligation to buy. Sevilla immediately sold the striker on to Celta Vigo when their loan agreement with Liverpool became permanent after he scored just two La Liga goals for them.

But this season the 30-year-old striker has five assists to go with his 20 goals in his 32 league starts this season and he is expected to make Spain's World Cup squad, having won eight caps since making his international debut in November 2016.

"Iago knows this is his home and it will depend on him, as it has always been the case, whether he wants to continue with us." Mourino said. "If we can help Iago, we will always do so. We know that he will have opportunities to go to bigger teams than ours but our hope is that he will remain with us for many more years."

Aspas, who is contracted to Celta until the summer of 2022, says he is in no hurry to leave the club.

"You never know what is going to happen in the future but I'm very happy here," he told Onda Cero radio. "I consider Celta a big club. The experiences that I had away from here didn't go that well and here I'm happy. I've got my family and my friends."